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Court-ordered mediation in school case fails
By Scott Rothschild
srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — Mediation in the Kansas school finance lawsuit “was unsuccessful,� attorneys on both sides of the case said Wednesday. In January, a three-judge
panel ruled that school funding cuts made by the Kansas Legislature since 2008 were unconstitutional and ordered the state to increase school funding by $442 million, or 17 percent. Another part of the ruling dealing with school capital budgets would raise the
total cost to more than $500 million. The state appealed the decision to the Kansas Supreme Court and, in March, Gov. Sam Brownback and Attorney General Derek Schmidt, both Republicans, requested that the court order mediation in an ef-
fort to resolve the litigation. The court agreed, and the two sides met with mediators on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, a joint mediation status report was filed, saying, “The mediation was unsuccessful.� Citing confidentiality agree-
ments, neither side would say whether more meetings are scheduled. In its order for mediation, the state Supreme Court said the talks could continue up to an Oct. 8 hearing in the case, and Please see MEDIATION, page 2A
Snow today? No joke; it’s in forecast
‘It was time to reclaim the space’
By Shaun Hittle
sdhittle@ljworld.com
Don’t let the past few days, with high temperatures in the 70s and 80s, fool you: Old Man Winter hasn’t left town just yet. Lawrence could see up to 2 inches of snow this afternoon and into the evening, according to a forecast from the National Weather Service. Rain is also expected before 1 p.m. today, leading to potential snowfall later in the day. While it should be much colder than usual in Lawrence, with a low of 30 degrees expected, Thursday isn’t expected to break the 2005 record of an all-time low of 25 degrees for May 2. And if snow does fall, it won’t be the latest day in the year that’s happened locally, but close. According to the NWS, which keeps such data for the Topeka area, snow fell in the area on May 3, all the way back in 1912.
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
PINCKNEY STUDENTS EDITH PATTERSON, 7, AND ANNABELLE HURST, 9, walk with Patterson’s dog, Rosie, through the tunnel beneath Sixth Street on their way home from school Tuesday. New murals line both walls the length of the tunnel, thanks to artists from Van Go Inc. and help from the Pinckney Parent-Teacher Organization, the city of Lawrence, Lawrence Schools Foundation, the Old West Lawrence Association and the Pinckney Neighborhood Association. The mural at right includes references to, from left, the Little Red School House, Hugh Cameron, also known as the Kansas Hermit, and John Brown. A mural unveiling ceremony is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.
Low-income moms face tighter rules for cash assistance
Artists transform school tunnel By Giles Bruce gbruce@ljworld.com
At the Pinckney School tunnel, dark has turned into light, filthy into clean, scary into inviting. Thanks to a collaboration between the Pinckney Parent-Teacher Organization and several other local entities, the underpass has been renewed — with art. A bright new 90-foot-long mural will be unveiled at a 5 p.m. ceremony Friday at the tunnel’s north entrance. “It has totally transformed that dark, dreary space into a delightful, ex-
citing passageway,� said Street to the front of the elLynne Green, executive ementary school, connectdirector of Van Go Inc., ing the Pinckney and Old the local arts-based social West Lawrence neighborservice agency that sup- hoods. plied the artists for Local citizens the mural through its have long wanted to job-training program revamp the tunnel, for at-risk youth. which had fallen into “That was the imdisrepair over the petus for the entire years — it was dark, project: to recreate a SCHOOLS dirty and defaced by dreary, dismal expevandals. In 2011, the rience going to school ev- Pinckney PTO, after learnery morning into a joyful, ing that public art deters wonderful time for young graffiti, determined that children.� a mural would be the best Constructed in the 1950s, solution. the tunnel acts as a safe “We really decided it passageway beneath Sixth was time to reclaim the
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TOPEKA — Low-income mothers in Kansas will have to participate in a work program sooner after giving birth to receive cash assistance, according to new rules by the Kansas Department for Children and Families. The changes will “bring expectations more in line with what the expectations are in the private sector, since that is what an employee can expect to receive from an employer,� said Angela de Rocha, a spokeswoman for DCF. The changes deal with a program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Mothers used to be able to receive TANF benefits for six months after the birth of a child before having to participate in a work program. Now that Please see MOTHERS, page 2A
Please see TUNNEL, page 2A
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space,â&#x20AC;? said project leader and PTO member Jenny Skillman. The PTO worked with the city of Lawrence, which agreed to clean, maintain and install new lighting in the tunnel. The group commissioned Van Go to design and paint the mural, at a cost of $10,000; the fundraising effort ran the gamut from lemonade stands to a blue-grass concert. Under the supervision of art director Cathy Ledeker, 22 apprentice artists between the ages of 14 and 21 spent
INSIDE
Snow!
By Scott Rothschild
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A winâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a winâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Despite several missed opportunities to score, Lawrence High School prevailed 3-1 in Wednesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s baseball game against Shawnee Mission North. Page 1B
Vol.155/No.122 20 pages